Removable partition



IN V EN TOR. JOSEPH M404 JQ.

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March 31, 1964 March 3l, 1964 J. MADL, JR

REMOVABLE PARTITION 2 Sheets-Shea?. 2

Filed sept. 19, 1960 w P.. Y

MN hm. R7 M a N W wwf WWQM A United States Patent Otilice 3,126,986 Patented Mar. 31, 1964 3,126,5536 REMGVABLE PARTITIQN .oseph Matti, 1r., 990 Volante Drive, Arcadia, Calif. Fata sept. 19, i960, ser. N0. 56,991 4 Claims. (Cl. 18g-34) This invention relates to a removable partition construction.

An object of the present invention is to provide a partition structure that embodies improved frame components that, because of their ease of assembly and accuracy of joining of said components, is inexpensive to install, yet capable of easy dismantling for re-installation elsewhere.

Another object of the invention is to provide a partition structure that has novel upper and lower yframe components that are alike and may be interchangeably installed and require merely an ordinary screw driver to operatively install.

A further object of the invention is to provide a partition that has frame components that are so interengaged with panels that are framed thereby that a strong, yet removable partition structure may be readily erected with easy facility.

This invention also has for its objects to provide such means that are positive in operation, convenient in use, easily installed in a working position and easily disconnected therefrom, economical of manufacture, relatively simple, and of general superiority and serviceability.

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novel combinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fully appear in the course of the following description, which is based on the accompanying drawings. However, said drawings merely show, and the following descriptio-n merely describes, one embodiment of the present invention, which is given by Way of illustration or example only.

In the drawings, like reference characters designate similar parts in the several views.

FIG. 1 is a broken elevational View of a partition according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2, 3, 5 and 6 are enlarged cross-sectional views as taken on the respective lines 2-2, 3 3, 5-5 and 6-6 of FIG. l, FIGS. 2 and 5 being vertical sectional views and FIGS. 3 and 6 being horizontal sectional views.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a corner detail.

FIG. 7 is a broken perspective view of an element of the partition frame.

The partition that is illustrated comprises similar upper and lower horizontal frame components 10 and 11, a plurality of similar vertical frame components 12 that extend between the horizontal components, panels 13 that are framed by said components 1t), 11 and 12 and serve as means that hold the latter in operative position and, optionally, framing components 14, both vertical and horizontal for Windows 15. To enable assembly of mutually normal partitions, as above, there is provided a corner component 16.

All of the mentioned components, or their component parts, are advantageously formed of metallic extrusions, preferably aluminum, although some of these, because their strength requirement is low, may be made of sheet aluminum or even stainless steel.

The upper component 10 may in practice, have an operative position against a ceiling 17, although, for partial height partitions, the same may be spaced from the ceiling. In any case, where the same may be indicated or needed, the components 10 and 11, the latter resting on floor 18, may be secured in place or be so located as to have a fixed position. The manner of securing the components is not material to the present invention.

Each component 10 and 11 comprises, generally, a base member 19, a facing member 20, a set of bolts 21 to connect said members, and a bolt-concealing member 22 frictionally connected to the facing member 20.

The base member 19 is formed as an aluminum extrusion to have a base wall 23, a face wall 24 forming a right angle corner with the wall 23, a lip 2S along the edge of wall 23 opposite the corner that joins walls 23 and 24, and bolt-engaging means 26 formed on the inner face of the face wall 24.

As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, the means 26 comprises vertically spaced horizontal walls 2'7 and 23 that are provided on their inner faces with serrations 29 that are preferably V-shaped or shaped according to whatever type of thread is provided on the bolts 21. By olfsetting said serrations, relatively, the same will have connection engagement with the helix of a bolt thread. Said walls 27 and 28 and the serrations 29 thereon, are longitudinally coextensive with the other parts and wall of base member 19, enabling extrusion type of formation of said member. It will be noted that wall 27 may flex during introduction of a threaded bolt end between said wall and wall 28 so that suitable friction is created that resists accidental backing olf of the bolt. Also, said walls 27 and 28 are provided with leadin chamfers 30 to facilitate such application of a screw. Since the serrations 29 are longitudinal, a screw may engage them anywhere along their length, thereby greatly simplifying assembly.

The Wall 28 may be substantially thicker than is wall 27 so its upper panel-supporting or -engaging face 31 may be suitably located relative to the axes of the bolts 21. ln this case, such a thick wall is preferably lightened as by a longitudinal slot 32. The mentioned support face 31 is spaced from the upper edge 33 so that a material part of a panel 13, engaged with said face, is overlapped by the upper portion of the face wall 24.

The facing member 2@ is formed as an aluminum extrusion to have a face wall 34, a longitudinal hook 35 in one edge of said wall of a size to have hooking engagement with the lip 25 of member 19, and a longitudinal groove in wall 34 that is dened by vertically spaced, inwardly directed flat walls 36 and 37 and an inner connecting wall 36 that is apertured at desired space increments for the bolts 21.

With the hook 35 engaged with lip 25, the line of apertures in wall 38 registers with the center of the space between walls 27 and 28 of the member 19; the face of wall 36 is at the same level as the face 31 of said member 19. Therefore, a panel 13 disposed in the groove formed between walls 24 and 34 rests upon said faces 31 and 36, and is clamped by the bolts 21 whose heads 39 bear against wall 38 and reside in the mentioned groove in wall 34. It will be clear that the bolts may be so tightened as to create a rm connection between said frame components 1t) and 11 and a panel 13.

While the above speaks of faces 31 and 36 constituting supports, they serve in such capacity only when the component 11 is considered, since the top edge of the panel may be spaced beneath said faces in the component 10, as in FIG. 2. Of course, the supporting engagement may be used in the upper frame component 10, if support engagement is desired.

The bolt-concealing member 22 is shown as a channelsectioned sheet metal part that has frictional engagement with the walls 36 and 37 of the member 20 and encloses the groove defined between said walls. The same, as shown, is preferably flush with the outer face of the face wall 34.

Each vertical frame component 12 comprises' two similar facing members 40, each of which has a hat crosssectional form. Each member 4t), therefore, has edge flanges 41 that are coplanar, an inwardly offset wall 42, and walls 43 that connect the flanges 41 and the wall 42. Transverse connectors 44 span between the walls 42 of o2 the facing members 4f). The same may be of any desired design and are here shown as headed-over tubular members that extend through apertures in the walls 42 with the heads 45 thereof that reside in the grooves defined by the walls 42 and 43 of the facing members. A concealing member 46, of channel section, is applied in each groove to conceal the heads 45, the same having the same purpose and design as the members 22 above described. As can be seen from FIG. 1, the ends of the members 4f) abut the lower edges of the upper component l@ and the upper edges of the lower component 11.

The flanges 4l of the components L?, form grooves that receive and grip the side edges of the panels 13 much like the upper and lower edges of the panels are received and gripped between the walls 24 and 34. Since the components 12 have a rigid structure due to the sectional form of the members 40 and because the connection members 44 are in tension, all of the edges of a panel are confined in such a manner that the panel itself serves to align the frame components 10, 1.1 and 12.

The window framing components 14 are detailed in FlGS. and 6. The four sides of a window frame are alike, the lengths of the top and bottom preferably spanning between two vertical frame components 12. The height of the side components 14 being as desired, a panel 13 is cut accordingly to leave the window-framing opening.

Each component comprises a metal extrusion 47 of channel form with inner and outer flange walls 48 that receive a panel 13 between them as do flanges 411 of the frame components 14. Panel-abutting ledges 49, together with the offset wall 50 of the extrusion 47, locate the position of said channel members 47. Said wall 50 defines the bottom of a dovetail groove 5l, the same receiving window-framing members 52 that clamp the window 15 between them, a compressible sealing strip 53 being used to avoid metal-to-glass Contact of the glass pane 15 and the members 52. The neat and flush arrangement of the window components 14 and the framing components 12 are clearly revealed in FG. l.

The corner component 16 comprises a metal extrusion that has outer walls 54 that meet at a corner 55, inner walls 56 that meet at a corner 57 and which, respectively are spaced from walls S4 according to the thickness of the panels 13, a diagonal web 58 that connects said corners 55 and 57, and panel-abutting ledges 59 extending inwardly from the walls 54.

Except that the panels 13 are rectangular, they may be solid, as shown, cellular, or fabricated in usual ways of a great variety of materials.

While the foregoing has illustrated and described what is now contemplated to be the best mode of carrying ont the invention, the construction is, of course, subject to modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it is not desired to restrict the invention to the particular form of construction illustrated and described, but to cover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described this invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A partition structure comprising a longitudinal framing component including a rfirst and second opposed vertical wall members, the first wall member comprising a vertical wall provided with an inwardly extending and recessed longitudinal channel disposed intermediate the top and bottom edges of said wall, and provided with a longitudinal channel along the bottom edge of said wall defining a bottom open slot, the second wall member comprising a vertical wall provided with inwardly directed longitudinal fastener-securing flanges opposite said recessed channel, a bottom plate integrally connected to the bottom edge of the second wall member and provided along the outer edge thereof with an upturned lip that extends into said slot in the first wall member to hold the first wall member against lateral displacement both toward and away from the second wall member, the space between tlie opposed portions of the two wall members above the mentioned recessed channel and fastener-receiving fianges being adapted to house an edge portion of a panel, and fastener means extending between said recessed channel and fastener-receiving flanges to clamp said panel edge portion between said opposed portions of the wall members.

2. A partition structure comprising upper and lower horizontal framing components, each said component including a rst and second opposed vertical wall members, the first wall member comprising a vertical wall provided with an inwardly extending and recessed longitudinal channel disposed intermediate the top and bottom edges of said wall, and first wall member of the upper cornponent being provided with a longitudinal channel along the top edge thereof and the first wall member of the lower component being provided with a longitudinal channel along the bottom edge thereof, each said latter channel defining a slot, the slot in the upper channel opening upwardly and the slot in the lower channel opening downwardly, the second wall member of each component comprising a vertical wall provided with inwardly directed longitudinal fastener-securing flanges opposite the respective recessed channels, a top plate integrally connected to the top edge of the second wall member of the upper component and provided along the outer edge thereof with a downturned lip that extends into the upwardly open slot in the first wall member of the upper component, and a bottom plate integrally connected to the bottom edge of the second wall member and provided along the outer edge thereof with an upturned lip that extends into said slot in the first wall member, said lips engaging the slots of the edge channels to hold the rst wall member of each component against lateral displacement both toward and away from their respective second wall members, the spaces between the two wall members of both components below the mentioned recessed channel and fastener-receiving franges of the upper component and above the mentioned recessed channel and fastenerreceiving flanges of the lower component being adapted to house opposite edge portions of a channel, and fastener means extending between said recessed channel and fastener-receiving flanges of said upper and lower components to clamp said panel edge portions between opposed portions of the wall members of both components.

3. A partition structure according to claim 2 wherein two longitudinally spaced vertical framing components each provided with opposed walls extend between said horizontal frame components, the vertical components terminating at their ends at the horizontal components, and the mentioned rectangular panel that has its upper and lower edges disposed between the opposed walls of the horizontal components having its side edges disposed between the opposed walls of the vertical components.

4. A partition structure according to claim 3 wherein an opening is provided in the panel, a channel frame around said opening and having side flanges between which the portions of the panel that surround the opening extend, and two window-framing members in dove-tail connection with the channel frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,413,669 Whitcombe Dee. 13, 1946 2,808,136 Hammitt etal. Oct. l, 1957 2,867,856 Cudini Jan. 13, 1959 2,949,981 Ferrell Aug. 23, 1960 3,016,993 Owen Jan. 16, 1962 

1. A PARTITION STRUCTURE COMPRISING A LONGITUDINAL FRAMING COMPONENT INCLUDING A FIRST AND SECOND OPPOSED VERTICAL WALL MEMBERS, THE FIRST WALL MEMBER COMPRISING A VERTICAL WALL PROVIDED WITH AN INWARDLY EXTENDING AND RECESSED LONGITUDINAL CHANNEL DISPOSED INTERMEDIATE THE TOP AND BOTTOM EDGES OF SAID WALL, AND PROVIDED WITH A LONGITUDINAL CHANNEL ALONG THE BOTTOM EDGE OF SAID WLL DEFINING A BOTTOM OPEN SLOT, THE SECOND WALL MEMBER COMPRISING A VERTICAL WALL PROVIDED WITH INWARDLY DIRECTED LONGITUDINAL FASTENER-SECURING FLANGES OPPOSITE SAID RECESSED CHANNEL, A BOTTOM PLATE INTEGRALLY CONNECTED TO THE BOTTOM EDGE OF THE SECOND WALL MEMBER AND PROVIDED ALONG THE OUTER EDGE THEREOF WITH AN UPTURNED LIP THAT EXTENDS INTO SAID SLOT IN THE FIRST WALL MEMBER TO HOLD THE FIRST WALL MEMBER AGAINST LATERAL DISPLACEMENT BOTH TOWARD AND AWAY FROM THE SECOND WALL MEMBER, THE SPACE BETWEEN THE OPPOSED PORTIONS OF THE TWO WALL MEMBERS ABOVE THE MENTIONED RECESSED CHANNEL AND FASTENER-RECEIVING FLANGES BEING ADAPTED TO HOUSE AN EDGE PORTION OF A PANEL, AND FASTENER MEANS EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID RECESSED CHANNEL AND FASTENER-RECEIVING FLANGES TO CLAMP SAID PANEL EDGE PORTION BETWEEN SAID OPPOSED PORTIONS OF THE WALL MEMBERS. 